Fencing-clasp



(No Model.)

J.- D. CURTIS.

. FENCING CLASP.

No. 284,390. Patented Sept. 4, 1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

? JOHN D. ounrrs, or wononsrnn, MASSACHUSETTS.

" FENCING-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 284,390, dated September 4, 1883.

Application filed December 6, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern! Be it known that I, JOHN D. CURTIS, of the ity and county of WVorcester, and Common-= wealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clasps for Fencing; and I dohereby declare thatthe, following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forminga part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 represents a top or plan view of the lower part of my improved fencing-clasp. Fig. 2 represents aside view. of the part shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a top or plan view of the upper part of my clasp.

Fig. 4 represents a side view of the part shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents the two parts of my clasp fitted together and applied to the fencing, holding two ends thereof in place,

and binding them together, as will be hereinafter fully described.

' The nature of my invention consists in a clasp made in two parts, which are fitted and secured together to join or connect together 2 5 two ends of metallic fencing material; and the parts of the clasp are made in a peculiar form,

so as to form curves in the ends of the fencing material, and thus fasten them together by means of the clasp and prevent them from i 0 separating apart from each other under the greatest strain, as will be hereinafter fully explained.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to make and use the 3 5 same, I will proceed to describe it more in de- 111 the drawings, the part marked A, Figs. 1, 2, and 5 of the drawings, represents the lower part of my clasp. It is made of mallea- 0 ble iron or other suitable metal in the form shown, havingfour projecting pins, a. The middle portion, 1), of the part Ais hollowed out, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5' of the drawings, for the purpose to be hereinafter eX- 5 plained. I The part marked B, Figs. 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings, represents the upper part of my A clasp, made of iron or other suitable metal, in

the form shown, having four holes, 0. The

middle portion of the under surface of the part B extends down below the rest of the surface, as clearly shown at 0, Figs. land 5 of the drawings, for the purpose to be hereinafter explained. I The two parts of my clasp are put together by placing the part B upon the part A, the pins or projections a passing through the holes 0, and the projecting part 0 extending and fitting into the hollowed-out part b, as clearly shown in Fig. ,5 of the drawings.

The operation of my clasp is as follows:- Take the two ends of the fencing material to be fastened together and place them upon the part A, between the two pairs of pins a, as shown in Fig. 5. Then fit the part B upon the part A, the pins a passing through the holes a, restthepartA upon somesuitablesupport, and then hammer on the part cl of the part B. The

projecting part 0 will press upon the fencing material and force it into the hollowed part b of the part A, as shown in Fig; 5 of the drawings. Then hammer down the heads of the pins a, for the purpose of compressing still more the ends of the fencing material andholding and firmly fastening togetherthe parts A and B of the clasp.

It will be readily seen by referring to Fig.

5 of the drawings that, the ends of the fencing to be joined together being bent into the curved form shown by the peculiar form of 80' the parts A and B of .the clasp,'and being held firmly in this form by heading the tops of the pins a, so that the parts A and B will not spread apart, no matter how great the. strain upon the fencing material, it will be impossible to straighten out the curved parts 6 e of the fencing, and thus allow the ends to be drawn apart and separated from each other.

My fencing-clasp combines lightness and simplicity with great strength, and is especially designed to fasten together the ends of metal-strip fencing or of wirefence, and may be readily used in case of the fencing material breaking by too great strain or other cause while in use, and the two ends being drawn apart by the strain where the fencing is broken, by taking a short piece of metal and fastening one end of it to one end of the broken fence-strip with the clasp, and then with a second clasp fastening the other end of the short piece to the other end of the broken fence-strip, thus uniting and fastening together the two ends of the broken fence-strip in a most secure and strong manner, and that,

IOC

too, without taking the fence-strip from the posts to which it is fastened, and with no tools but a hammer to pound down the heads of the ends of the fencing, the parts A and B being duplicated, and provided with a third pair of pins, a, and holes 0, without departing from the principle of my invention. 7

In lieu of the pins or projections a, vrivets may be used to fasten together the two parts of my clasp without departing from the principle of my invention, although I prefer, from my present experience, to make the clasps of malleable iron, in which case the pins a would be cast with the part A of the clasp.

I disclaim the invention set forth and described in the Letters Patent No. 22,624, to G. Churchill, dated January 18, 1859, for belt-fasteners; also the invention set forth and described in the Letters'Patent No. 72,993, to L. Fleckenstine, dated January 7 1868, for scrubbing-brushes, and also the invention set forth and described in the Letters Patent to D. Wooster, dated February 16, 1829.

Having described my improvements in feneing-clasps, what I claim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a fence-clasp, the combination, with the .part A, having pins or projections 64, and hollowed part b, of the part 13, having holes 0, and the projecting part 0, substantially as shown and described.

JOHN D. CURTIS. 

